Guardian 镇魂 Fic - Future Forged

Chapter 2

When Ma Gui told him that the former general Ren Boyang had holed himself up in the mountains after leaving the allied army, Zhao Yunlan first thought he was making an elaborate metaphor or that he was joking.

He was not.

Stone steps wind up Mount Zhen like a stairway to the heavens. There are no railings to hold onto or any guarantee of safe passage - only the perilous vertical ascent, the vivid greenery of the shrubs and grasses and trees, the yawning wide blue sky, and the distant blotches of the earth below.

They troop up the steps: Shen Wei, mask on, black cloak billowing around him; He Anying, her headcloth flapping in the breeze, her brows furrowed and jaw set, now bearing three blades on her waist; Da Qing, scampering up the rocks in cat form; and Zhao Yunlan, whose scorpion-poisoned hand is free of the bandage but bears an angry red scar.

Every once in a while, Shen Wei glances at the wound and asks if Zhao Yunlan needs to rest. Zhao Yunlan shakes his head and tries to focus on the climb.

"Couldn't you teleport us up the mountain?" he asks after several hours, his legs sore and aching.

They are taking a break under the shade of a large boulder, drinking cool water from a small mountain spring. Zhao Yunlan had thought that he was used to walking after all this traveling, but a mountain is another feat altogether.

"I cannot dematerialize anyone other than myself," Shen Wei says.

"And it is a mountain," He Anying cuts in. "You, who hail from a village under the shadow of mountains, yourself, Kunlun, know that climbing a mountain can be a spiritual, sacred pilgrimage."

"Ahaha - of course," Zhao Yunlan says, wincing at her unsubtle nudge to keep up the pretence in front of Shen Wei and Da Qing. "I'm out of practice. And I'd say that my mountain is better. Although - you're right that this is a humbling experience, Lieutenant."

It is a much different journey than the drive to the Northwest Mountains back in the present - in the Hummer on a dusty road, the SID team with him.

But at least this time Shen Wei is still with him again. He remembers settling his jacket over Shen Wei's shoulders; now he only wishes he could please get Shen Wei to take off that nuisance of a mask.

After they finish up their brief break, they're back on the steps again. One foot (or paw, in Da Qing's case) in front of the other. The shapes of the world underneath grow smaller and smaller, and the sky welcomes them - further - higher - into its blanketing blue embrace.

A couple of hours later, the stone steps abruptly stop as the four travelers reach the peak. A red temple stands before them, with a curved arch entrance and latticed windows.

Standing outside the temple is a middle-aged man, as if he has been waiting for them the entire time. He has a dark neat beard, with his hair bundled up under a blue cap and his arms tucked behind his back. His eyes are gleaming and bright and observant - like two skittering beetles.

"General Ren," Shen Wei greets him, pulling himself into a standing bow. He Anying and Da Qing do the same, and Zhao Yunlan follows suit a second too late.

"I am not a general anymore," Ren Boyang replies. He has a voice like the mountain itself: gravelly deep. "What brings you to my temple, Lord Envoy? Do you seek my instruction?"

His keen eyes are trained on Zhao Yunlan as he says this, and Zhao Yunlan realizes that this old man knows more than what he's letting on.

"Master Ren, then," Shen Wei corrects himself. "No - Lord Ma Gui and Chief Fu You have sent us to ask for assistance in seeking the Hallows, which the rebels have stolen."